Photography 101 This is the section of our website where we will give our opinion and personal steps to taking great photos. By all means, if you have a better way of doing it, then don’t change. We are not the authority but we like to share information that we have acquired from different sources. Take some time and do the research and try it for yourself. Trying new ideas and practicing the craft is what makes great photographs. Expensive cameras and lenses don't always equal great photos, so don’t get caught up in that misconception. Equipment is nothing more than the tools we use to create images or record them and sometimes it’s nice to have a fancy wrench but the job can also get done with a pair of pliers. Sometimes not as easy. Don’t let people tell you what to buy without doing your own research on the equipment. Decide for yourself what works best for you and your budget. For example, if you like scenic shots then you wouldn’t want to buy something like a very fast long telephoto lens weighing in at 10lb to carry around your neck. It gets very heavy after a long walk down the trail. I will also dedicate part of Photography 101 to equipment choices and talk about what equipment may be right for you. The ideas and tips in the following section are based on my opinion I have gained through never ending self education from reading every piece of information I have come across on photography. Also the knowledge I have gained from trying and or experienced myself. I have mentored a few people in the past and I feel like I have led them out of the dark area of confusion. I will try and keep everything in non-magazine over analyzed information format that no one except the manufactures themselves understands. Also I am always experiencing new ways I strive to keep learning because let’s face it no one know everything. So let’s get on with it I will start with basic questions.   What are the necessities? A good quality Camera that you are comfortable with, Lenses you have a use for, a good sturdy tripod, a patient and positive attitude.   What makes pictures fuzzy? This is a question with many good answers first is the shutter-speed is too slow. Causes: low-light, camera-shake this caused by movement of the camera while the image is being developed inside the camera digitally or on film. Fixes for this may be a larger lens aperture or a tripod would help.   Why when I try to enlarge an image it looks like blurry? This also a loaded question with many good answers. This can be caused by ISO setting, lack of Megapixels, poor lens quality, poor filter quality, dirty sensor, dirty lens, or just trying to enlarge too much.   What rules are there for wildlife and nature photography? Wildlife one rule don’t try to persuade wildlife to do what you want by scaring them be patient and don’t cause them to attack you or hurt themselves because you startled them. Keep a safe distance no picture is worth being injured over for yourself and the wildlife. The only other advice is if you can’t get a good shot don’t take it put the camera away and enjoy the view, stop and smell the roses pay attention you may learn something from a behavior you witness which in turn will help you to predict in the future when and how to get a really good shot!   What does it take to make great photographs? PPP=Patience, Persistence, Practice. Try studying your own work if you do something by accident that you liked take the time to figure out what you did so you can re-create it again. Never stop being willing to learn something new.   What does Aperture or F-stop mean? Aperture is the blades inside the lens that control the light received by your medium (film or digital) it works like your eye the larger the opening the more light, the smaller opening the less light is allowed in. The larger the number the smaller the aperture is open and the smaller the number the larger the aperture. Relatively if you want more of the entire picture in focus the smaller you want the aperture open which will need a slower shutter-speed, opposite end the larger the aperture is open the faster the shutter-speed can be used which gives you what is referred to as a fast shutter-speed.   What is Shutter-speed? Shutter-speed is the amount of time the sensor or film is exposed to the light allowed in by the lens and aperture. Slower Shutter-speeds means it will need more camera stabilization (tripod, better skills, etc) Faster shutter-speeds will require less stabilization. If you took a look at the waterfall pictures in the gallery these are achieved by slower shutter-speeds adding a blurred look to the water this is no accident. Faster shutter-speeds are needed to stop action.   What is ISO? In perspective to digital ISO is the film speed used to expose the scene. The higher the ISO the faster you can shoot the scene do to less light being needed to expose the scene. But for clearer and more enlargeable images or cropping of the image the lower ISO settings you would want use. My camera is always on 100 this is the lowest it will go.   What is Megapixels? Lay-mans terms the higher the megapixel the larger the prints you can make and the clearer an image will remain when cropping. I know some will argue this but this is my opinion about this.   What is DPI? This is controversial but this means nothing to the shot taken this is means more to the printing aspect than taking the picture. DPI means Dots per Square Inch.   What is Exposure Compensation? This a function that some camera’s may have to compensate for your meter if the scene is primarily bright or dark due to snow, sand and etc. The meter in your camera is always looking for medium gray or 18% gray, it uses this information to adjust the rest of the picture correctly. So compensating the exposure virtually tricks your meter into thinking the scene is darker or lighter. This is why snow in black and white images unfixed will appear gray instead of white and in color it appears blue-ish.   What is 18% gray or middle gray? The gray card is a card produced by Kodak and other companies that is to be used as reference for metering the amount of light under certain conditions. Turn your camera’s meter towards the gray card to get an accurate reading of the scene, you then lock the settings on the camera and continue to shoot the scene. Most labs will adjust for this automatically but if you process or print your own pictures this will show up in the prints.   What is fill flash? Fill flash is basically lighting the shaded side of a subject that has been backlit by natural light or other means. The human eye and brain do not need this but the camera cannot overcome this issue sometimes and the front side of the subject will be shadowed.   Is all this information necessary to take “Wall Hangers”? No   Is there a Specific brand better than others? No. it’s all personal Preference   Is the camera body that important? This is Relative to whether you use film or digital with film the body is not of dire importance the medium is film. However with digital you wouldn’t want to use a 1.2 Megapixel camera and try to enlarge to a 20X30 “ print you won’t be happy.   Is the Lens that important? This is also relative to what you are doing the quality of the lens is usually relative to the price of it. And the mechanic’s of the lens are relative to the quality, a pro lens is a pro lens but a pro sometimes uses non-pro lenses to achieve what they are after. Owning a big mighty pro telephoto lens doesn’t make you a pro so don’t salivate and jeopardize your family savings to buy one of these monsters. Don’t get me wrong sharpness of a lens and its over-all effectiveness is the major importance to me.   What is a walking around lens? A walking around lens is just that a lens you keep on the camera to be used in many focal lengths such as something lite and non-cumbersome to the act of walking around for example: 18-70mm 70-300mm small compact lenses that don’t break your neck or your bank account to carry around are they the best no! Are they good enough relatively Yes! But usually when I leave the house I know what I will be photographing so I take the necessary equipment with me then.   What is mirror lock-up for? Long shutter-speeds can be affected by what is referred to as mirror slap in SLR cameras only. The vibration of the mirror coming up to expose the shutter and then the sensor or film plane can affect the image.   What are filters for? Once again a loaded question in which many filters are out there for many practical uses relating to the what they are to be used for which could go on and on and on about but to get more info you might want to investigate this through books and magazines along with the internet and of course try them out yourself.   Why do people use Photoshop? Different reasons they use it to clean up a photo like for instance some spots may show up from dust on a sensor or in a lens but other than the spots the image is wonderful then Photoshop can save the day. While others use it like a tool so they don’t have to take really good pictures in the camera and then some like to manipulate the image into a different scene all together. I myself still shoot like I am using film I use good habits and technique to create images that do not need retouching. But I have used it for the spots from dust.   What is a game farm? These are places where you go and pay someone to let you take pictures of captive animals in picturesque settings, the results are breathtaking but I don’t do it except at the zoo to me this is not something I would enjoy but for those who have a certain time frame to fill like a vacation it would be good practice. But for those of us dye harder’s the act of learning the biological habits of these creatures is part of the experience along with stalking and finding them is something one cannot put into words.   What is that little girl with angel wings in your picture’s name? Her name is Madison and the baby is Sophia and they are my girls I also have two Boys Taylor and Jordan that are also pictured in various other pictures, You know I enjoy taking pictures of my children and they inspire me to want to be the best I can be at everything I do. I can’t honestly tell them the sky is the limit if I don’t follow my own passion with photography.   What kind of truck is the red one in the gallery? It is a 1940 Dodge truck.   What kind of engine is that? It is a 392 “HEMI”   Who does the red truck belong to? My Favorite Neighbor “Super Dave” And his wife Ruth Ann. I watched Dave Build this truck over a period of time a lot of the parts that went into the build were made by hand by Dave. Dave is one of the most intelligent people I will ever know his talent and ability to me are unrivaled. I was very proud to have had the opportunity to photograph this work of art for my friend Dave.   What’s in my Bag: Camera’s  I carry a Fuji S2Pro and also a Nikon n90s ,Lenses I carry a Nikon 28-105D, Nikon 80-200 F2.8D ED, Sigma 18-50 Digital zoom, Tamron 2x converter, and I recently sold my Tamron 300mm F2.8 to buy a bigger lens which I have not done yet. I also carry a Sb25 Flash and MD-8 Battery pack along with SC-17 cord for the flash. I carry an 81A and circular polarizer’s for the above lenses. I shoot RAW and Process through Fuji’s Software. I stuff this into a Tamrac Extreme 787 backpack and also use the Tamrac M.A.S. series belt with shoulder straps and modular cases for my equipment. I use a heavy tripod I bought on eBay from Amvona. Not that Glamorous I assure you. I have owned and used medium format equipment also.   If you would like to ask a question, please send us an email and I will try to answer them quickly and with sincere honesty.